Leadless pacemakers and their delivery systems are a new technology. Similar to implantable leads that extend from a traditional pacemaker or implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), there are essentially two fixation mechanisms for anchoring the leadless pacemaker to the endocardium; tines that get pulled into tissue and a helix that is rotated to fixate to cardiac tissue (similar to a screw).
For leadless pacemakers that require rotation for fixation, there are a number of possible clinical events that can occur as a result of over or under-rotating the leadless pacemaker. If the leadless pacemaker is under-rotated, it can come loose prior to full release or migrate post-release.
If the leadless pacemaker is over-rotated, the helix portion of the leadless pacemaker can either penetrate or pinch tissue. This penetration/pinching can potentially lead to a variety of adverse clinical events.
There is a need in the art for a system for, and method of, delivering a leadless pacemaker for fixation to cardiac tissue while reducing the possibility of under/over rotation of the leadless pacemaker during fixation.